Page 45 of Caged Bird

His groan was guttural, his gaze hitting my body in all the right spots in the space of a second. It roamed across my breasts, my belly, my sex. It lingered on my thighs, my lips, my eyes.

I closed the distance between us, wading into the water until I stood in front of him.

“You wanted to talk,” I whispered.

“I don’t anymore,” he said back, just as softly. He swallowed thickly. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

“You already said that.”

“You need to hear it more than once.”

I let out a slow breath, because he was right, I did. But even more than his words, I needed his touch. I needed someone to hold me the way he had last night. Someone to make me feel alive, because the memories of what we’d done was the only way I’d gotten through a day of Eddie’s constant demands and leering stares.

“If you’re tricking me, if this is some kind of game to you…”

He was so quick to answer, his voice deep with sincerity. “I’m not playing any games. He’s blackmailing me. Threatening to hurt our mom if I don’t do what he says. I can’t let him do that.” There was honesty in his eyes. The pureness he’d always had, that time somehow hadn’t taken from him the way it had from me.

But I wanted it back. I wanted to trust people again. To believe not every person out there wanted to hurt me. And so I told him the truth. “He said I had to pretend I wanted this. Make you believe I was here of my own free will.” I swallowed hard, shaking my head. “But I’m not. Not for a second. He chains me up. Never lets me leave. I’m his prisoner. His slave.” My voice broke, as all the built-up anger inside me exploded. “His goddamn fucking property just as much as his car, or this house, and everything inside it is.”

Zane pulled me into his arms, his strong embrace wrapping around me.

I buried my face in his chest and heaved deep breaths of his scent.

I never wanted to move. I could have stood there like that for a lifetime, skin against skin, his hands tight against my back, in what felt like him holding me together. That spark of attractionand the friendship that had always been there between Zane and me suddenly also felt like protection. Not in the same way my brother or sister would have offered. Neither of them would have thought twice about running a blade across Eddie’s throat or squeezing the trigger point-blank against his temple.

Zane didn’t have that sort of violence in him. Neither did I.

Neither of us were our siblings. And I wouldn’t—couldn’t—resent that in him when I couldn’t change it in myself either.

I wanted to kill Eddie with every bone in my body, but I knew I couldn’t. I would have done it by now if I could.

But what we did have was this. A stolen moment of connection I so desperately needed. I lifted my head to stare up at him, drawing back just a tiny bit so I could see his face. “This is dangerous. He’ll kill me if he finds out what we did last night. What we’re doing out here. And I don’t just mean that in the offhand way most people use it.”

He smoothed his hand over the back of my head. “I know. But…”

“But what?”

He stared down at me with those eyes I’d always thought beautiful. They were still filled with the kindness I’d always seen there, but now there was something more. A heat that had kindled years before, but I’d chosen not to see, because I’d picked the wrong brother.

His voice was deep. Husky. “But I really fucking want to kiss you, Fawn. I want to kiss you so damn bad. I always have.”

His fingers slid to the side of my face, the heel of his hand resting against my jaw. He lowered his head, giving me every chance to back away. To say no. To decide for myself what I did or didn’t want.

But in that moment, despite the danger, despite the repercussions, Zane was something I wanted with every fiber of my being.

“Say yes,” he whispered against my lips.

It was the easiest yes I’d ever uttered in my life.

His lips connected with mine.

In an instant, my legs were mush. My knees buckled at his gentle touch and the warm connection. It spread from my lips, tingling its way down my neck and then farther, through my torso and limbs until my entire body felt alive in a way it hadn’t been for the longest time.

It was me who deepened the kiss, needing him closer, greedy for more.

His tongue met mine, and a deep-rooted groan reverberated between us. His hands found my hips, and he lifted me, my legs instinctively wrapping around his waist.

I moaned at the feel of his hard dick pressed between us. I was so opened up to him, all it would take was one well-positioned slide and I’d be on his cock.

---